Chapeau!
The ring at Istres (image from generationvoyage.fr)
I was struck by a conversation I had with a Spanish aficionado the other day just how unenthused I was by the feria carteles for 2024 as they began to emerge from negotiations between empresas and apoderados. They are largely the same old story - a reliance on figuras who have been appearing as matadors for 20 years or more, some even put on more than once in relatively short ferias, a series of comfortable carteles with comfortable ganaderías.
In fact, this story - whilst typical of contemporary toreo - is not so old. When I first started going to bullfights in the 1960s and ‘70s, it was common practice to put someone who had recently taken the alternativa on the third spot of a cartel. In this way, I got my first sightings of the likes of José Fuentes, Paquirri, Manolo Cortés, Juan José, El Puno, Dámaso González, Paco Alcalde and Luis Francisco Esplá. Seeing them on the same carteles as the leading toreros of the day, able to face the same ganaderías, offered them the opportunity to make a real impact and also revealed the coming stars. If the empresas are to take a genuine interest in the future of la Fiesta, this is how carteles should be organised.
Hats off, then, to Bernard Marsella, the empresa of Istres, and the town’s taurine commission. For Istres’ feria this coming June, they have decided to “lend a hand” to younger matadores de toros. “For over 20 years,” says Marsella, “all bullfighting’s figuras have performed in Istres. They’ll continue to do so, but also taking into account the aficonados’ perpetual comments - ‘Lack of renewal, lack of originality, little future for young diestros...’ This year, Istres proposes to support, discover and bet on the young matadors who will be able to play a more important role in bullfighting in the future. So, we have imagined a different, original feria, where young matadors will be able to express themselves in the best circumstances. In this we have a beautiful project with a message of hope!”
Marsella has thanked the figuras for permitting the feria to proceed along these lines: “This project takes on all its significance because everyone knows that the figuras prefer to fight together. They have agreed to share the bill in Istres and promote this new generation of young matadors.” My view is that, it’s not so much the figuras preferring to appear together, but rather the figuras’ wishing to appear with a limited number of preferred ganaderías that means they invariably end up toreando alongside each other. The feria carteles support this view with all the ganaderías featured from the Domecq encaste, the ‘outlier’, perhaps, being the French Pagès Mailhan ranch whose animals are domecqs as well, but descended from Fuente Ymbro.
The carteles, nevertheless, are full of interest. The feria begins on June 14 with a string of Jandilla bulls for Daniel Luque, the French torero Thomas Joubert (aiming to revive a hot-and-cold career) and the new sensation Borja Jiménez. The following day begins with a disappointing novillada, Marco Pérez in a mano a mano with the nimeño Nino Julián and juanpedros, when putting Pérez together with two leading novilleros would have been of more interest. But the afternoon corrida makes up for this - Sebastián Castella, the promising Mexican Leo Valadez and new matador Christian Parejo with bulls of Victoriano del Río. The next days’ corridas are equally compelling - a morning affair with the Pagès Mailhan bulls for three recent matadors, El Rafi and Carlos Olsina from France and the murciano Jorge Martínez, and then the feria’s closing event (more juanpedros) with Enrique Ponce on his farewell tour, David Galván appearing beyond Cádiz province for a change, and the highly praised Clemente.
In promoting the feria, Marsella revealed that more than 40 toreros had sought to participate in it. “The nine matadors and two novilleros we have contracted to appear haven’t been selected casually. The common feature they possess is, of course, talent,” he remarked, doubtless with one eye on the box office. “So, will the newcomers perform at the level of los maestros? In June, all will be revealed.” Let’s hope that the feria attracts a high level of attendance and that the young matadors do well.